Manufacture of cans



J. G. HODGSON.

MANUFACTURE OF CANS. APPLICAUONJILED APR. [9, 1920.

Pam 00 5. w, 1922.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 J. G. HODGSON.

MANUFACTURE OF CANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1920.

Patented (M5. 14), 11922,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

side seam of a can body;

ct. W, 1922.

atent t? JOHN G. HOIDGSON, OF MAYWdOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO AMERICAN CAN COM]? rear critic OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORIORATION OF NEW JERSEY:

a"? HUFAC'I'URE 0F CANS.

Application filed April 19,1920. Seria1No.374,783.

I To all whom it mag concern:

citizen of' the United States, residin Be it known that I, JOHN G. Honeso'N, a -1n. Maywood, inthecounty of Cook and tate of Illinois, 'have'invented, a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Cans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to receptacles or containers, more particularly to cans of the type wherein the heads or covershave a turned over seam connection withthe can body; and the invention has for an object theprovision of a construction at the juncture'of the body or side seam and the head seam connection with thebody, in which the seaming at this point is substantially uniform and of the same degree of tightness as the remainder oi theseam, resulting in the elimination of lips or cut overs at theaforesaidijnncture points and in practically obviating leakage through the head seam ofthacan p In addition 'to thegeneral object recited above,.,the in entionincludes among its ob-. jeCts such other advantagesand results as maybe found to obtain in the improvements hereinafter described or claimed. L

In the aocompan ing drawings, forming apart of this speci cation, and showing for urposes of exem lification, a preferred iorm and manner 1n which the invention maybe embodied and practiced, but without,

. limitingthe claimedinvention to such illuson the fline' w -lo of junctinjabetween the lapping portions of trative instance for instances Figure .1 illustrates the two endportion's with the sideseam .forming* an es bent position for subsequent inter ock en. gagementwitheagh other; p n ig. 3 is a section o'"""the*hne-3+-3 ofF-ig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 Fig. 5-is a section on the line5 5 of Fig. 1 Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-'-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. is a horizontal section through the lapping portions at one end of the side seam of a can body;

Fig. 8 'is a horizontal section through the F'g. 19 is'a plan view of the top ofthe can; 'j, I ig'..10;is an enlar ed horizontal section ig. 9 illustrating'the the side seam and a rolled seamv connection of the head or top with the body of thecan; Fig. 11 is an enlarged verticalsection on the 1ine.1111 of Fig. 9 showing the rolled seam connection with the main portion of p the can body; and i Fig. 12 is an elevation ofthe lapping portions of the flanged can body. The same characters of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views. In its present embodiment, the invention is applied to cans of the type ,in which the heads or covers have a rolled seam connection with the can body. F or convenience. the present description will be confined to this use of the invention; the invention is however readily susceptible of other valuable applications, for example, itmaybe applied to receptacles generally; consequently it is manifest that the scope of the invention is 5 by no means confined to the specific use and specific embodiment herein described as an illustrative example.- t In the art of sheet metalcans, receptacles, or containers, it "has heretofore been the go common practice to form the lapping portions of the can body, situated ,at the oppo site ends of the side seam which the two edges of the blank are joined together, each. of the same thickness of metalor other mag5 terial as the balance of the-can body. The result is that a double thickness of metal is present at the opposite ends of the side seamii and when the ends of 'the can body a e flanged end of the body, and flthe edge of the anged, the cover or top applied to the coverjrolled' over with and tucked under such flanged end, the much greater thickness ofjmetal at the'juncture between the side and seams relatively to the juncture be ,tween the top seam and the main portion of the main body makes it an exceedingly difiicult matter to insure a substantially leaktight joint at the top of the slde seam. There are at the point where-the side seam joins 109 the top orrolled over seam two'more thicknesses of netal than at other points along the top seam, and the result is that, in rolling'over the edge of the can to "to form the top seam, lips, cut overs or ot er imperfections' in the joint are formed at the top of the side seam which are attendedfrequently by leaks. l

In accordance with the present invention,

a substantially perfect seam is insured at all '1 1o I the same as or at least not materially greater than the main body portion of the can. The result is that, in turning over the edge of the top to form the seam connection with the end of the can body, the rolls or other seaming devices employed for this purpose encounter a surface which is substantially free from humps clear around the end of the can body and a uniform and even seam free from leaks is formed.

, Accordin to the mode of carrying out the invention ifiustrated in the drawings, there is provided an elongated sheet metal blank 21 which is subsequently rolled into a cylin drical body. One end edge of the blank is provided with two slits 22' which are arranged near the ends of the edge, the other end edge is formed with aiflange 23 of at length substantially equal to the distance between the slits 22 and with chamfers or bevels 24 respectively located at the opposite ends of the edge beyond the flange 23. The flange 23 is doubled on the top of the blank to provide an outwardly turned flange which is interlocked with an inwardly turned flange 25 formed by doubling inwardly the edge of the body of the blank betweenrthe slits 22,

thereby providing lipsl26.l When the blank :1 is bent into shapestoform the cylindrical can body, the flanges 23 and 25 are inter-' locked and the lips 26 are lapped, in the present instance overlapped, by the chemred portions 24L v "As stated, the present inventionis for the particular purpose of obviating an excess of metal at the lapping portions which are located at theoppos'ite ends of the side seam of the can body, theseam formed in the present instance by the interlocked'flanges 23 and 25. In order to accomplish "this result in a highly satisfactory manner, the chamfered portion 24 and the lips 26 are respectively made of reduced thickness, for example as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, so that when assembled into lapped relation with respect to each other the. combined thickness of the two lapping portions is substantially equal to or not greater than the thickness of the main portion of the blank from which the can body is formed. Any suitable form and manner of reducing the :thickness of these lapping portions of the can body is within the scope of the invention. In-the form shown the chamfered portions 24 and the lips 26 are made of reduced thickness by swedgin while the metal forming the can body is in the blank stage, althou h -obvi-' The advantageous resultsaccruing from I making these overlapping portions of reduced thickness are well'illustrated in Fi 7, 10, 11 and .12. It will be seen that as t e combined'thickness of the overlapping'p'ortions at the end of the side seam of the can body is not eater ,than the thickness of the blank forming the can body, humps are obviated at the ends of the side seam, there being substantially the same amount of metal between the overturneda'nd inturned portions of the curl of the top seam at this point as at other points along the top seam. Furthermore, simple obtuse angle chamfered portions are satisfactory, it being unneces sary to cut away the extreme corners of the blank at the chamfered portions, as has heretofore been a common practice to lessen the bunching of metal in the lapping portions atthe ends of the can body. In the illustrative instance the reduced metal has been swedged to about half thickness, so that in the completed double seam the four half thicknesses and three'full thicknesses of interlapped metal have an aggre ate thickness (Fig; 10) equal to the five t icknesses of metal in the double seam at other points-in the can end circumference Fig. 11).

After the blank has been rolled into the form above described, its opposite ends are flanged outwardly to'form flanges 27 The top 28 may be applied to the end ofthecan bodyin'any preferred manner. One usual method is to first roll the edge of the can top 28 cover and under the flange27 of the vcan top and subsequently by another rolling operation to overturn the rolled ed e of the can top with the flan 27 to orm the, rolled and inwardly ,cur ed flanging 29 that constitutes the top seam of the connection;

If desired a gasket 30inay be interposed between the flanging of the can top and the flan ing of the can body,

Vfiiat is claimed is:

1. 'A can embodying a body constituted of a sheet, the opposite side edges ofwhich' are brought into mutual juxtaposition to form a side seam and having lapping portions, at the opposite ends of said side seam, respectively of reduced thickness relatively to the main bod portion, the end of the body including to lapping portions bein flanged, and a cover applied to the flange end of said body and havin its edge rolled over with and tucked un ersaid flanged end, substantially as specified.

2. A can embodying a body constituted of a sheet, the opposite side edges of which are brought into mutual juxtaposition to form aside seam and having lapping portions, at the opposite ends of said side seam, respectively ofa combined thickness not greater than the thickness of the main body porineinae' tion, the end of the body including-the lappin portions being flanged, and a cover app ied to the flanged end of said body and having its edgeturned over with and tucked under". said flanged end, substantially as 3. A receptacle body constituted of a sheet of receptacle-forming material the op 'posite side edges of which are brought into mutual juxtaposition to form a side seam 'and having lapping portions, at the oppo- 'stantially as specified.

a side'seam andl avlng. lapping portions,

1 at the opposite ends of said side seam, of a around the end of the can body, whereby a cover may be appliedtotbe flanged end of. said body and atop seam formed of uniform thickness. by rolling the cover edge over with and tucking it under said flanged end of uniform thickness, substantially as specified. 5. The method of makinga can body which consists in forming a blank from a sheet of metal, bringing the opposite side edges of said blankinto mutual juxtaposi- Y can body constitutedof a sheet of metal, the opposite side edges of which are i 7 brought into mutual juxtaposition to form tion to form a side seam having lapping portions res ectively located at the opposite ends of said side seam, and, during the can body making process, reducing the thickness of said over-lapping portions, so that their combined thickness is not greater than the thickness of the main body portion, to produce a can body having an end of substantially uniform thickness, as described.

6. A side-seamed can-body adapted to be flanged for double-seaming at its end and having the metal at the lapped tip of its side-seam reduced in thickness to render the flangedend of such can-body uniform circumferentially and avoid bulging of the double-seaming, substantially as specified.

7. A sheet metal can body for double seaming, formed of a blank which is bent and the ends of which are-lapped, portions of said lapped ends which are to enter the double seam being formed with reduced thickness of metal and the body wall at said portions, being. of less thickness than twice the unreduced thickness of said sheet metal. combined thickness not greater than the main body portion, and a flange formed 8. A sheet metal can body blank formed at two of its corners, at opposite ends of the same side of the blank, with portions of reduced thickness for overlapping at the part of the blank which is to enter into the double seam, whereby the lapped part of the blank will be of less thickness than twice the unreduced thickness of the metal.

9. The tin can with its well swedged to a thinner portion at the part-where the side seam is to be included in the end seam.

ions e. noneson. 

